Developer set to start building on unused lots in Main South

WORCESTER 
The littered lot at Hammond and Main streets has been vacant since the financially beleaguered SunBridge Care and Rehabilitation facility closed in 2002.

Now, more than a decade later, local developer Arthur Mooradian is set to begin construction on a single-story, 9,600-square-foot building on the parcel, which will be home to a Family Dollar store.

The $1.6 million project, which is expected to be finished in September, is one of two that Mr. Mooradian, the head of Mooradian Construction Co., is undertaking this year in the city’s Main South section.

The second involves the rehabilitation of the former Sunoco gas station at 779 Main St. into a retail complex that will house three or four small businesses. The structure, located near Lagrange Street, is one of the few remaining early franchise filling stations in Worcester and has been on Preservation Worcester’s Most Endangered Structures list.

Mr. Mooradian has also recently renovated the facades on a handful of storefronts that he owns around the 800 block of Main Street and is in the planning stages of developing, into retail space, a Chandler Street parcel that now houses a used car dealership.

Since 1973, Mr. Mooradian has developed a number of properties and has owned scores of rental units, most of them located in Worcester’s inner-city areas.

Mr. Mooradian said that the Main South and Park Avenue-Chandler street areas of the city are “tough neighborhoods” but he added that it’s still worthwhile for businesses and developers to invest in them.

“You have tens of thousands of individuals living within a mile of City Hall,” said the Worcester resident. “That’s a lot people who need homes, services and things to buy.”

Mr. Mooradian has started work on the Sunoco property, which for 15 years served as the hub for the Yellow Cab Co.

After purchasing the site, he discovered that new environmental regulations forced him to further remediate the property of fuel and other ground contaminants. He ended up spending an unexpected $200,000 to remove 400 tons of contaminated soil.

“I didn’t expect that extra cost, but I’m hoping the development of that land will be worth it,” he said of the parcel, which will include 90 parking spaces.

Mr. Mooradian plans additions to the back and side of the building.

Back in 2003, local preservationists thought the structure was worth saving because it was an early symbol of America’s love affair with the automobile and that it was representative of the fast-disappearing early roadside architecture that it yielded.

“We’re happy that the developer will work with the existing gas station building,” said Deborah Packard, Preservation Worcester’s executive director.

Meanwhile, construction on the Family Dollar store might begin as early as next month. Mr. Mooradian has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the national value chain.

Mr. Mooradian purchased the property, which is about an acre in size, in 2011. AHO Construction of Ipswich, N.H., which has built six other Family Dollar stores in the region, has been hired to construct the building.

The store’s entrance will be on Main Street and its access will be on Allen Street. The makeover of the corner lot will include trees and other landscaping to make the parcel aesthetically pleasing.

Mr. Mooradian said the store will be open seven days a week and will generate pedestrian traffic. It will also serve neighborhood residents, many of whom don’t own a vehicle.

“It’s difficult to market a business here because it is a tough neighborhood,” said Mr. Mooradian, noting the Family Dollar store will have space for 25 vehicles. “But this area has a lot of potential.”

He said the neighborhood will grow, if city officials continue to address public safety issues, and, if more working-class families move into the area.

Mr. Mooradian also owns the parcel on Chandler Street where Worcester Auto Sales is located. He’s looking, in the future, to transform that lot into space for retail businesses.

Some of Mr. Mooradian’s past projects have included the redevelopment of the building at 199 Chandler St. into office space and a furniture store and the rehabilitation of a building at 456 Park Ave. that once featured an awning company but now offers offices for professionals.

Area residents and groups said they appreciate Mr. Mooradian’s endeavors.

“The projects that he takes on really make differences in the neighborhood,” said William T. Breault, chairman of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety.